BAR HARBOR – When Diane Kopec began working at the Abbe Museum 21 years ago, there were four part-time staff members, only seasonal indoor plumbing at the small, non-winterized Sieur de Monts Spring facility, and just one American Indians on the board of trustees.

The times have changed – and change is good.

Speaking last week in her director’s office inside the new, gleaming $4.5 million building on Mount Desert Street, the soon-to-retire Kopec described the differences that two decades have made to the Abbe.

The museum’s mission is to further the understanding and appreciation of Maine’s Native American cultures, history and archaeology.

In addition to the significant building upgrade, the bolstering of staff to eight year-round positions and indoor plumbing all the time, the major difference has been a cultural attitude shift, she said.

“The most significant change over the last 20 years, to me, is our relationship with native people,” Kopec said. “Since then, native people are really involved with all aspects of the museum … As director that was a change I wanted to see. It’s one that continues to grow.”

Members of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot nations now serve on the museum’s board of trustees, on the exhibit committee and as advisers, and they work on programming and attend field schools.

In the early 1980s, it was unusual for any American Indian museum around the country to have an American Indian board member, according to Kopec.

“It was a very different time,” she said. “People didn’t look to purveyors of culture to help interpret the culture.”

Later in that decade, things began to change nationwide regarding the role of American Indians in museums. The Abbe Museum was at the edge of the trend.

“At that time, native people were coming to the forefront more politically, re-energizing their cultures and museums began reinforcing that and seeing the value of other cultures’ involvement,” Kopec said. “We grabbed the concept and ran with it.”

The museum’s first all-Native American exhibit, staged in 1992, was titled “Mikwid-Hamin,” or “Remember Me.” It showcased storytelling, and featured art and video made by Penobscot Nation children that illustrated traditional stories. It was a smash success, the director said.

“It was a personal exhibit,” Kopec said. “Kids sat on the floor and watched it over and over again.”

Her eyes lit up as she described another successful venture that is a joint undertaking of the museum and the tribes, the yearly Waponahki Student Art Show.

Young American Indian artists submit their best work to be chosen for display in the spring. The children come to Bar Harbor for the opening and get the chance to experience for themselves the museum that honors their ancestors and, often, their relatives.

“The special part of it is that children come and see, and say things like, ‘My grandfather’s basket is here,’ very proudly,” Kopec said.

Other highlights of Kopec’s time at the helm of the museum include:

. The total renovation of the Sieur de Monts building, which had not had any work done in 50 years.

. Winning 13 grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for excellence in all areas of operations.

. Operation of the successful Ruth Moore Field School summer program to study the native people of 3,000 years ago.

Field school students ranged from 17 to 75 years and included Elizabeth Noyce, the late Maine philanthropist and the driving force behind the Libra Foundation. It was a serendipitous interest for the museum, as Noyce later kicked off the museum’s capital campaign with a $500,000 gift.

“She was a lot of fun and she became a real friend to the Abbe,” the director said.

Kopec said she plans to stay on board until a new director is found, and then hopes to spend time gardening and relaxing with her family and friends. But the Abbe has gotten under her skin.

“I may volunteer in the archaeology lab downstairs,” she said. “It’s great fun. I’m not on the floor very often but when I am, spending time with the visitors, it’s just very rewarding. You find out that all the time spent by staff is well worth it.”